The Enigmatic Soul
by undertaker1465
Summary: Jeff Hardy just can't seem to kick his drug habit, getting himself into some serious hot water. When he thinks all is lost, what happens when he finds the support he needs from the last place he'd expect?
1. Chapter 1

Jeff took deep breaths as he walked into the arena for Smackdown. He looked around anxiously as he passed random staff members on his way to the men's locker room. 'Just relax, look normal,' thought Jeff, biting his lip and looking down at his feet. But he knew it was no use, he could just feel the looks, the sympathetic glances or judging glares. They all knew he was using again.

He didn't want to start again, but Jeff just couldn't take the pressure, knowing everyone was just waiting for him to fail. Waiting for him to screw up again. He wasn't using them that bad, just when he needed them. But Jeff had a feeling the McMahons weren't gonna take that excuse.

Jeff had to go through a random drug test the previous week, and he was almost completely sure he failed. Mainly because he was doing them just hours before the test. He was really hoping the drugs hadn't gotten into his system yet, but he knew that wasn't very likely.

Jeff sighed as he walked into the locker room, setting his bag down and looking at his reflection in the mirror. How Jeff hadn't already been suspended, he had no idea. It couldn't be more obvious he was using again. The vibrant colors in his hair were the only colorful things about him these days. His skin was pale, his eyes always had bags under them and were red, either from lack of sleep or from just being high.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Jeff was fully set on making a better life for himself this time. But it was a lot harder to just quit than it seemed. Especially when everything was going wrong. Shortly before he started again, Jeff's girlfriend left him, his house burnt down, taking his dog with it, and he had to move in with his brother, Matt. His house was still in the process of being rebuilt, so Jeff was still living with Matt, and it was taking a serious toll on their relationship. The drugs probably weren't helping with that either.

It just seemed like Matt had finally just given up with Jeff. When he found Jeff's stash, all they did was argue about it for weeks. Now they weren't speaking at all, despite living under the same roof. Jeff wanted to fix everything, but he knew it wouldn't be fixed until he quit doing drugs, and he just couldn't. The high was the only thing keeping him going.

Jeff looked at his hair in the mirror, fluffing it around. He could swear it should have bald spots with all the stress he's been under lately.

John Morrison walked in and looked over at Jeff. "Geeze, you look like shit."

"Thanks Jo," said Jeff, looking away from the mirror.

"When's the last time you slept?" Said John. "Your bags have bags."

"I don't know," said Jeff, digging through his bag for face paint.

"You don't know?" Said John. "That's not healthy. Those bags are so dark they look like black eyes."

"I'm gonna paint over them," said Jeff.

"That's not the point," said John. "That doesn't make them go away."

"I'm fine, John," said Jeff.

"I'm just worried about you," said John. "You haven't been yourself since Beth left."

Jeff took a deep breath. "I said I'm fine."

John narrowed his eyes at Jeff's bag, seeing a pill bottle in it. "What's that?"

"Nothing," said Jeff, quickly stuffing it further in his bag.

"Are you using again?" Said John.

"I have it under control," said Jeff.

"You have it under control?!" Said John. "Do you realize how bad this is?!"

"I know, just," said Jeff, before sighing. "I'm handling it. It's not like I'm doing anything that big."

"What are you using?" Said John, grabbing Jeff's bag.

"You can't just dig through my bag!" Said Jeff, trying to take it back.

John kept it away from him and pulled out the baggie, finding a lot more than just one bottle. "What the fuck is all of this?!"

"It's not that bad-"

"Not that bad?!" Said John, looking through the bag. "Do you see how much this is!"

"It's not a big deal!" Said Jeff.

"Oh, not a big deal, it's only cocaine!" Said John, holding a bag of white powder in front of Jeff's face.

"Would you shut up!" Said Jeff, taking the bag. "You don't need to announce it everyone!"

John shook his head and dropped Jeff's bag. "You need help, Jeff."

"I don't, need, help," said Jeff, glaring at John. "I can help myself."

"Obviously not!" Said John, as Jeff stuffed everything back in his bag.

"Just let me handle it!" Said Jeff, his voice cracking.

John sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you."

"I know you are," said Jeff. "But I'm an adult, I can handle my own problems."

"I'm sick of seeing this happen to you," said John.

"You think I'm not sick of this?!" Said Jeff, the tears starting to flow. "I tried, John."

"Just let someone help you!" Said John.

"Stay out of it," grumbled Jeff, pushing past John and leaving the room. As soon as he left he bumped right into the last person he wanted to see right now. CM Punk himself. Jeff and Punk just never seemed to click. Their personalities always clashed, inside the ring and out. Jeff was almost positive it was because Punk was straight edge, and Jeff, not so much.

"Wow, I didn't think it was possible for you to look worse," said Punk, looking Jeff up and down.

Jeff glared but kept his head down. "Fuck off."

Punk furrowed his brows, seeing the black under Jeff's eyes. "Are you... Ok?"

"Get out of my way," said Jeff, shoving past him.

"Hang on," said Punk, grabbing his elbow to stop him. "I know I give you a hard time, but if you're getting hurt-"

"I'm not getting hurt," said Jeff, yanking his arm free. "I'm just tired."

Punk crossed his arms. "Those are some serious bags for someone who's just 'tired'."

"Would you stay out of it?" Said Jeff. "I'm not even dating anyone right now how would I be getting hurt?"

"Well, if they're not from getting hurt, what are they from?" Said Punk, narrowing his eyes.

"From not sleeping, that's it," said Jeff.

"Oh really?" Said Punk. "Cause, for the last few weeks, you've been looking more and more drained."

"And?" Said Jeff.

"And," said Punk. "You've been dodgy, and paranoid, and to be honest, you look like you just got off a week long crack binge."

"Fuck off," said Jeff, walking away from him with a glare.

Punk sighed. "Are you even gonna be able to do our match tonight?"

"I'm fine!" Snapped Jeff, before going into the bathroom.

Punk shook his head and walked into the locker room, seeing John sitting and running his hands through his hair. "What's up with you?"

John groaned. "Jeff is, being himself."

"What's going on with him?" Said Punk.

"Stuff," said John.

"What stuff?" Said Punk.

"If he wants you to know he'll tell you," said John.

"He's using again, huh?" Said Punk.

John bit his lip. "Punk-"

"I knew it," said Punk, crossing his arms and glaring at the door. "That little junkie-"

"It's not like that," said John. "He's having a really hard time right now."

"We all have hard times," said Punk. "You don't see me doing heroin every time I have a bad day."

"He's not on heroin," said John. "I looked through his stuff."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Said Punk. "Not only is he risking his own life, he's risking everyone else's he works with."

"I just found out," said John. "And quite frankly it's none of our business. That's between Jeff and Vince. So keep it to yourself."

Punk sighed and shook his head. "If he fucks up our match tonight-"

"He's not high right now," said John.

"Why'd he go to the bathroom with his bag?" Said Punk.

"Because we were arguing about it," said John. "He's not dumb enough to do it at work."

"If you say so," said Punk, starting to get dressed.

"Just lay off of him," said John. "You don't know him."

"I know he's a junkie-"

"He is not, a junkie," said John, glaring at him. "Don't call him that."

"I know you like him and all, but he's a junkie," said Punk, finishing changing.

"He's not-"

"Then why does he have drugs on him right now?" Said Punk. When John didn't answer Punk scoffed and left. "Exactly."

John sighed as Punk left. As much as he wanted to defend Jeff, it was getting harder and harder to do.

Jeff was warming up in the arena gym after painting his face and getting dressed in the bathroom when one of Vince's executives approached him. "Excuse me, Jeff. Vince would like to see you in his office immediately."

"Oh, ok," said Jeff, biting his lip when the executive turned around and walked away. He felt his heart start pumping as he ran his hand through his hair. 'Just keep calm,' thought Jeff. 'It's probably just about the match.' No matter how many times he told himself that on the way to Vince's office, he couldn't keep himself from freaking out at the other possibility.

And when he sat in the all too familiar chair in front of Vince's desk, and Punk wasn't there also, his anxiety skyrocketed.

Vince let out a deep sigh as he browsed through some papers on his desk. "Jeff, would you care to explain yourself to me?"

Jeff bit his lip. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Don't play dumb with me," said Vince, tossing the papers in front of him.

Jeff looked down at the papers, seeing his drug test reports. "Now," said Vince. "There wasn't just one prohibited drug, not even two, but THREE prohibited drugs in your system."

Jeff just looked down in shame and Vince tore him a new one. "How dare you risk your fellow coworkers lives for your own selfish needs! Do you realize what this will do to this company's image when this gets out?! I have never met someone so irresponsible in my life!"

It went on like that for half an hour before Vince finally cut to the point. "I've given you plenty of chances Jeff. You're done."

Jeff looked up and his eyes widened. "Wait! You can't just fire me!"

"I can, and I am," said Vince.

"Please," said Jeff, holding his hands together. "I can get better, I can-"

"I'm tired of your empty promises," said Vince.

"I swear!" Said Jeff. "I'll stop! Just please don't fire me, this is all I have left!"

Vince took a deep breath and seemed to contemplate it for a few moments. "You have, one, chance."

"Thank you," said Jeff.

"I'm not done," said Vince. "You have one chance to get your life together, or you're gone for good. You're suspended for one year starting this week, if you're not better when you get back, you're done. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," said Jeff. As soon as he left the office, Jeff felt tears welling up and he immediately tried to find somewhere private.

Punk was in catering with some of his friends when he saw Jeff walk past. He furrowed his brows, seeing something was clearly wrong. "Hey, I'll catch you guys later," said Punk, getting up and following after Jeff. He caught up to him when they reached a secluded hallway and pulled Jeff against himself, immediately feeling tears running down his chest. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Get away from me," said Jeff, pushing him off and wiping some tears away.

"You're gonna mess up your paint doing that, you know?" Said Punk, crossing his arms.

"I don't need it anyways," said Jeff, taking the towel out of his back pocket and wiping it off.

"Why don't you need it? We have a match and you look like... Not good," said Punk.

Jeff just glared and kept wiping it off. "We don't have a match anymore."

"What do you mean we don't have a match?" Said Punk.

"I got suspended," said Jeff, looking down at his feet, feeling the tears flowing again.

"Suspended?!" Said Punk. "Our storyline is the hottest thing going right now! What stupid thing could you have possibly done to... You got caught using, didn't you?"

"I got drug tested last week," said Jeff, sniffling. "I'm suspended for a year."

Punk groaned and ran his hands over his face. "Damn it, Jeff." He sighed and hugged Jeff again when he started crying. "Stop crying, you're getting my shirt wet."

Jeff just pulled away again and started walking off. "Just leave me alone, we're not friends."

Punk let him go and crossed his arms, shaking his head before heading to Vince's office. If he wasn't fighting Jeff tonight, he was fighting someone else. There was no way he letting someone else's mistake mess up his career.

AN: Hey guys! Let me know what you think so far! Hope you like it! :) and for people who read my other stories, The Real Monsters next chapter is coming SOON, so keep an eye out for it!


	2. Chapter 2

"You have got to be kidding me," said Punk, sitting in Vince's office.

"We just don't have anything for you now that Jeff's gone," said Vince.

Punk groaned and ran his hands over his face. "This is bull shit! Why am being punished for his incompetence?!"

"Watch your mouth," snapped Vince. "And you're not being punished, most people would be happy to get time off."

"How can they have nothing for me?" Said Punk. "I don't need time off, I can't afford time off!"

Vince sighed. "Alright, I'm gonna be honest with you, Jeff is big money, and him being gone is going to hurt us-"

"So me being gone too is a good idea?" Said Punk, scoffing.

"This isn't personal, it's business. Jeff is bigger than you right now, he's more money, and we need him back as soon as possible. Now, I'm not saying he can't get better on his own, but having someone like you around him would certainly help," said Vince.

"You want me to babysit him?" Said Punk, crossing his arms.

"I want you to help him," said Vince. "He needs to get over this problem, and you two being on friendlier terms certainly wouldn't hurt. I've gotten too many complaints about you guys arguing."

"How would me being around help at all? All we'd do is fight," said Punk.

"I trust that you can act like an adult for once and be mature," said Vince. "Now, I can't force you to live with him, but I can force you to take time off. What you choose to do with it is your decision."

Punk took a deep breath. "How much time off?"

"Six months," said Vince. "Jeff's going to be out for a year, so hopefully that'll be enough time for him to get his life straight."

"Six months?!" Said Punk. "That's ridiculous!"

"We need Jeff to get better, so I suggest you make good use of your time," said Vince.

"I don't see how this isn't a punishment," grumbled Punk.

"You'll still be getting paid while you're gone, Jeff won't be," said Vince.

"What makes you think Jeff will agree to this?" Said Punk.

"You can convince him," said Vince. "I already told him what was going on."

"He didn't mention any of this to me when I talked to him," said Punk.

"Sounds like you've got some convincing to do," said Vince. "Better get to it."

Punk glared as he left the office. As soon as the door shut, he clenched his fists in anger before punching a wall. "Damn it!"

"Woah!" Said Edge, walking up to him. "Calm down! You're gonna break your hand."

"I don't give a fuck," grunted Punk, shaking his hand.

"What's wrong?" Said Edge, crossing his arms.

"Fucking Jeff and his damn junkie self," said Punk.

"Hey, Jeff's a good guy-"

"Jeff can go fuck himself," said Punk.

"What'd he do?" Said Edge.

"He got suspended," said Punk.

"And this affects you, how?" Said Edge.

"Vince wants me to babysit him so he made me take time off," said Punk.

Edge raised a brow. "He can't force you to babysit Jeff."

"He can force me to take time off," said Punk.

"How much time?" Asked Edge.

"Six fucking months," grumbled Punk.

"Damn, Jeff's out for six months?" Said Edge.

"He's out for a year, I'm out for six months," said Punk. "This is such bull shit."

Edge sighed as Punk walked away. "Where are you going?"

"To go find that piece of shit," said Punk.

"Don't do anything you'll regret!" Said Edge.

"I won't regret it!" Said Punk. He went back to where he found Jeff in the hallway, but didn't find him. 'Where'd you go?' Thought Punk. He walked towards the locker room, but glared when he saw Jeff and Matt a little ways down the hallway. Punk started walking towards them but stopped when he heard their conversation.

"You know what Jeff?! I'm done! You wanna be a junkie, go right ahead!" Said Matt.

"I don't want this!" Said Jeff, tears rolling down his face. "I just can't stop! I don't know what to do! I need another chance!"

"You've had plenty of chances!" Said Matt. "Every single time you just fuck up again! You fuck everything up! I'm tired of it!"

"But Matt-"

"No," said Matt. "You need a place to stay, but that's it. We can be roommates, but until you decide to stop being a fuck up, we're not brothers."

Punk grimaced as Matt walked off and Jeff just let himself sink to the floor. He sighed. Suddenly, yelling at Jeff didn't feel like the right thing to do anymore. "Damn it," grumbled Punk, before walking over to Jeff. He sat next to him in silence as Jeff just cried to himself. Punk pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and ate one before offering the pack to Jeff. "Gum?"

Jeff shook his head and sniffled, looking away from Punk. Punk shrugged and put it away. "Suit yourself." He chewed his gum for a few minutes while Jeff just sniffled next to him before sighing. "You know, people are gonna start coming down this hallway soon."

"I don't care," said Jeff.

"We could go somewhere more, you know, private, for you to sob and whatnot," said Punk.

"You could fuck off," said Jeff.

"Geeze, I'm trying to be nice," said Punk.

"You're doing a shitty job," said Jeff.

"Fine, if that's how it's gonna be," said Punk, getting up. Jeff thought he was going to leave, so he squealed in surprise when he got picked up. "Punk!"

"You wanted to do this the hard way," said Punk, carrying Jeff down the hallway.

"Put me down!" Said Jeff, struggling to get out of his arms.

"Where do you usually go to cry? Closet?" Said Punk.

"Fuck. Off," said Jeff, glaring at him.

Punk smirked and walked into a janitor's closet, shutting the door before setting Jeff down. "There, you can cry all you want now."

"I hate you," grumbled Jeff, leaning against the wall. "Let me out."

"I need to talk to you," said Punk.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Jeff.

"There's a lot to talk about," said Punk. "So, you live with Matt?"

"Yeah," said Jeff, looking down at his feet.

"And you two aren't getting along right now?" Said Punk.

"Obviously," said Jeff.

"Well, I know we haven't exactly been friends in the past," said Punk. "But-"

"I'm not moving in with you," said Jeff. "I don't need a fucking babysitter."

"Jeff, I know you think you can, but you're not gonna be able to help yourself," said Punk. "I don't want you around as much as you don't want me around, but if we do this, I can help you."

"I don't need your help," said Jeff. "We're not friends-"

"I know," said Punk. "I know I give you a hard time, and that we're opposites, but just listen-"

"You don't even want to help me. You're just doing this because Vince told you too. You don't care," said Jeff.

"I care enough to not want you to die from an overdose," said Punk. "If you would just let me help you-"

"No, it's not happening," said Jeff. "Now let me leave."

"So you wanna go back home to big brother Matt?" Said Punk.

Jeff glared at him. "Shut up."

"You're gonna just go home and do exactly what you've been doing," said Punk. "How's that gonna work?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Said Jeff.

"Don't I?" Said Punk. "Is that not what's happened every other time?"

"Fuck you," said Jeff, pushing past him and leaving the closet. Punk sighed and let him leave. "You know what, whatever. He's not my problem."

Jeff kept to himself the rest of the show and left as soon as he could. When Punk saw him leave, he considered going to talk to him, but decided to talk to John first. He went back to the locker room and walked over to where John was changing. "Hey, John."

"Hey" Said John, pulling his shirt on . "I uh, heard what happened. Are you ok?"

"Yeah," said Punk. "I need you to talk to Jeff for me."

"I already talked with him. I would love for Jeff to accept help from you just as much as Vince would, but it's not gonna happen," said John. "He's never accepted help from anyone before. Jeff doesn't like being dependent on someone."

"He's never been to rehab?" Asked Punk, raising a brow.

"Never," said John. "He doesn't even want my help. And considering he hates you, I doubt he'd wants yours."

Punk sighed. "Look, you know a whole lot more than I know him. How can I convince him?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, whenever I want something I just give him skittles and he'll usually comply-"

"I doubt skittles are gonna make him move in with me," said Punk. "You have to know something, you two are attached at the hip all the time."

John bit his lip. "He likes to be in control, he really hates people telling him what to do. He doesn't like accepting help, so if you can find a way to talk with him without pressuring him, or trying to control him, that's the best chance you got."

Punk took a deep breath and thought it over. "How far would flirting get me?"

"Don't even go there," said John.

"How far?" Asked Punk.

"His girlfriend just left him a little while ago," said John. "Flirting with him is the worst thing you could possibly do right now."

"I think I'll take my chances," said Punk.

John smacked the back of his head and walked past him. "You're a horrible person. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later," said Punk, biting his lip and thinking everything through.

When Jeff got to his hotel room later, he sat on his bed and stared at the drugs in his bag. 'Just one wouldn't hurt,' thought Jeff. 'I can stop using tomorrow.' Rught before he reached for them, there was a knock on the door. Jeff quickly shut his bag and shoved it under his bed before answering. He furrowed his brows when he opened it. "What do you want?"

"I wasn't done talking to you," said Punk, pushing past Jeff into the room.

Jeff glared at him and pointed back at the door. "Get out."

"What's going on?" Said Punk, sitting on his bed.

"I said get out!" Said Jeff, walking over to him. Punk stood up and got nose to nose with him as Jeff's eyes widened. "I asked you, what's going on?"

"You know what's going on," said Jeff.

"I meant outside of work," said Punk.

"That's none of your business," said Jeff.

Punk was about to throw out the best pick up line he had, but he cold just see the misery written all over Jeff's face, and he found that he just couldn't do it. 'Damn conscience,' thought Punk, with a small sigh. "I'm sorry for all the times I called you a junkie, I didn't know how bad it was."

Jeff got a look on his face like he was confused by the apology. "Do you mean that?"

Jeff could try to look cynical all he wanted, but Punk saw right through it. He could still see all the misery and pain in Jeff's eyes, but there was a tiny glimmer there, like he was hoping Punk actually meant it.

"I do," said Punk, softly. "I just want to understand."

Jeff looked down and brushed the hair out of his face. "You'd never understand."

"Try me," said Punk, sitting back on the bed. He motioned for Jeff to follow, and Jeff reluctantly complied, sitting beside him. "I can't explain it," said Jeff. "It's just a feeling you get, like if you don't have another hit you'll die."

"How'd it get like that?" Said Punk.

"I've been around drugs all my life," said Jeff. "For the most part when I was young, I stayed away from them. But everyone I saw who did them, they were happy. I was having a really hard time, and all I wanted was to be happy again."

Punk bit his lip. "And how'd that work out for you?"

"Obviously not very well," said Jeff. "After the high everything was a million times worse, but during the high, the pain was gone. I wasn't happy, but I was numb. I couldn't feel the pain anymore."

Punk got a somber look. "Jeff, there are so many other, better ways to deal with pain."

"It's too late," said Jeff, tearing up. "I can't stop. It hurts."

"It hurts?" Asked Punk.

"The withdrawals, they make everything hurt," said Jeff. "So, bad."

Punk nodded. "Jeff, you need-"

"I don't need help," said Jeff.

"I know you don't like it, but you need someone there for your withdrawals, and you need someone there for your cravings," said Punk. "This is something you can't do on your own."

Jeff looked away and rubbed his arm. "I can't be a burden on people anymore."

"You won't be a burden-"

"Yes I will," said Jeff.

"I won't mind taking care of you, I need something to keep me occupied for six months," said Punk. Jeff chuckled a little but still looked unsure, so Punk grabbed his hand and gave it a gently squeeze. "Let me stay here tonight, and in the morning, you can decide whether or not you want to come with me to Chicago."

Jeff pulled his hand away and bit his lip, thinking it over for a moment. "Ok."

AN: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! Please review!

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